The former head of the UN, Kofi Annan, will sign an agreement with food agencies for a new drive to increase farm production in Africa, the report said. "We hope to spur a green revolution in Africa which respects biodiversity and the continent’s distinct regions," Reuters
reported Annan, who chairs the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), as saying at the three-day meeting in Rome.
The scheme will provide technical support to improve soil and water management, access to seeds and fertilisers, and improve infrastructure in "breadbasket" areas of Africa, which have relatively good conditions for farming.
There was a wide consensus on the need to reduce trade barriers and scrap export bans imposed by some countries in an attempt to safeguard domestic food supply during the crisis, the report added. Aid agencies blame some Asian nations’ export restrictions on rice, for example, for helping drive up food prices around the world.
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